


Further Along

by IowaGuy1979



Series: The Spiral [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Fluff( but not for Maxine), so much damned angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 09:08:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29748210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IowaGuy1979/pseuds/IowaGuy1979
Summary: Maxine had survived Nathan shooting her.Was that a good thing?
Relationships: Rachel Amber/Chloe Price
Series: The Spiral [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186448
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Further Along

Monday, October 7, 2013

As she pushed the bathroom door open, Maxine saw Arcadia Bay’s ‘golden boy’, standing in front of her, a gun in his hand pointed at her. His eyes held a terrifying gleam.

“You’re that loser everyone laughs at, right? Well, you just opened the wrong door, bitch.” 

The last thing Maxine saw was the flash of the gun, firing.

She blinked her eyes. That usually didn’t happen after you were fatally shot. As she looked around, she realized she was sitting in a booth in that diner, the Two Whales. She’d only been there a few times, with her mom and dad, when she was younger.

“Well, and here I thought that the one with time powers was a loser.”

Sitting across from her, was...her! Dressed in jeans, and a black shirt with a moth made from bones on it, wearing a dark sneer, was Maxine.

“Who are you? What’s going on?”

“I’m you, idiot! Shit, at least the dumb ass with the time powers stood up for herself. Even if she was a fucking idiot and wrong. Glad she finally did the right thing, and let that blue haired bitch die.”

Maxine just stared, her head cocked to the right, like a confused dog.

“You’re just an average Max, though, no time powers. I’m just here to say, you’re not dead. Have a nice existence, we won’t meet again.” With that, the other her got up, and walked out of the diner.

As Maxine held her hand out and shouted “Wait!”, everything became a blinding white flash.

Pain. Her entire being was pain. Maxine’s vision cleared, and she saw her mother hovering over her.

“Oh, god, Maxine! We were so worried! We thought you had died! We just got here about a half an hour ago.” She held a cup of water with a straw, which Maxine gratefully drank from.

“What happened? What about that boy who shot me, Nathan?”, she said, in a rough croak.

Her father was in a chair on the other side of her bed, scowling. “He claimed you attacked him, even though he was high as a goddamned kite, when the police got there!”

“I..I didn’t!”

“We know, honey. Sean Prescott’s lawyers tried to make a case that you had, but, it was obvious to everyone they didn’t have a leg to stand on”, Vanessa said.

“They did settle out of court for a cash settlement. We’ve been looking at schools with photography classes for you.”, she said

Maxine did like taking pictures, it’s what she had gone to Blackhell for, after all. She knew herself well enough to know it was a coping mechanism, a way to hide away from the world that was seemingly determined to ruin her, make her feel so very alone.

“Yes, Maxine. There’s no way you’re staying here. There’s a reason we left this town, besides your father’s job.”

“I know, Mom.”, Maxine said. “Arcadia Bay’s always felt so.. cold. Like I wasn’t welcome here, even though I was born here.”

“Well, once you’re cleared to leave, we’re taking you back to Seattle.”, Ryan said, in a tone that brooked no dissent.

“Believe me, Pop, I’m glad to go. I had thought that this town had changed, maybe, since we left.” She shook her head.

After another day to make sure that nothing was immediately wrong, she was discharged. Her parents took her to get her stuff from her dorm. It didn’t take long, as she had left everything but the bare essentials still packed. ‘I guess I was subconsciously thinking that I wouldn’t be here long’, Maxine thought.

She followed her dad out of the dorms. Thankfully, everyone was in class, so there was no one to laugh at her, or taunt her. They went to the office, to complete the paperwork to remove her from the school. Aside from the minimal conversation during the process, Principal Wells had only said, “Best of luck to you, Maxine”, in a tone that said he couldn’t care less.

As the Caulfields left Arcadia Bay for the last time, they drove past the “Another Great Day In Arcadia Bay” sign. Making sure her mom wouldn’t see her doing so, she flipped the sign off. ‘Fuck you!’, she thought.

Rachel let out a shriek, as Chloe mercilessly tickled her. “Goddamn it, Chloe!.” She tried to sound angry, but, it was hard, when was was laughing so much.

“Who’s the best at Smash? Who?”, the tall bluenette said.

“OK, you’re the best at Smash Bros., oh Queen of Video Games.” Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

With a satisfied smirk, she stopped her tickle assault.

“Whew!”, Rachel gasped. “It’s been one hell of a time, Price.”

Chloe merely nodded. They had met at a house party near The Castro, the city’s famous gay district. After some conversation, and some alcohol, they had hit it off.

Both were attending Stanford, Chloe for Computer Science, and Rachel for Public Policy.

“I still don’t know why you’re not going into modeling, Rach. You sure as fuck are beautiful enough for it.”

Rachel smiled. “First off, thank you. Second, I had thought of it, but, I realized I wanted to make a concrete difference in the world. Learning about politics seemed the best way. My dad was proud of me.”

Chloe nodded. “My dad’s always been in my corner, too. I’ve always been a science nerd, got fucking lucky with that scholarship. I’m just glad that they moved down here, from Oregon. I don’t know what the fuck I’d have done, if I was living in a small town like the one they moved from.”

“Yeah, small town life definitely wouldn’t suit either of us.”, the blonde pulled Chloe up off of the floor of her dorm room. “Now, it’s time for an Adventure!”

The other woman sighed, a totally fake exasperated look on her face. “Every day is an adventure with you, Amber.”

Life in Seattle wasn’t perfect, of course. Some of Maxine’s fellow students picked on her, but, she had also made some friends. Of course, joining the school’s R.P.G Club had helped on that front. Surprisingly, there was a popular kid or two in the club, as well. All in all, Maxine found herself enjoying life a hell of a lot more than she had in Arcadia Bay.

Another house party, this one in Kensington, just north of Berkeley. Booze wasn’t the only thing on offer, and the blonde and bluenette soon found themselves nice and high. “Reminds me of the night we met.”, Rachel smiled. “Yeah, but no shrooms, then.”, Chloe said. She stared at Rachel intently. “You...you’re glowing.” As she leaned forward, their lips met.

As Maxine adjusted her tassel nervously, ‘Pomp and circumstance’, the old graduation stand by, began to play. Squaring her shoulders, she moved with the rest of her class into the auditorium. ‘Good bye, high school, hello reality’, she thought. She’d miss the friends she’d made. Despite being nervous, she was looking forward to the future, for once.

“What do you mean?”. Maxine said. “Just what I said, Miss Caulfield. Your slot has been filled. The letter stating your acceptance was accidentally sent.” Maxine had just moved down to San Francisco, to attend college for photography. Now, it looked like her dream of being a world famous photographer may be just that, a dream. “I’m sorry for the miscommunication, Miss Caulfield.” “B.. but..”, she stuttered. The money from the Prescott settlement had been spent on her tuition. “You have out sincerest apologies for this. You should be able to get into next year’s class.”  
“...sure”, she muttered. “Have a nice day, Miss Caulfield.” Soon, she was standing by the bay, watching the traffic going across the Golden Gate Bridge. ‘Well, I barely have any money to get by on, since we had assumed I’d be living in the school dorms.’, she thought. Sighing, she started the hunt to find an affordable place to live.

Rachel and Chloe held hands as they walked along the street. Their classes had just finished for the year. Rachel was heading back to LA, to spend the holidays with her family. “I’m gonna miss the fuck out of you, Amber”, Chloe said. “More like you’re gonna miss fucking me.”, the blonde replied, eyes twinkling in merriment. A quiet ‘a-hem’, caught their attention. What had looked like a pile of rags moved into the shape of a person. A short brunette, with a dirty face. Her blue eyes shone, full of sadness and shame. 

Rachel muttered to Chloe, “Let’s get going. You know that she’d spend any money we gave her on booze, right?” “I know, but, I just have a feeling about her.” “It’s that softhearted gene you got from your dad, Price. It’s a good thing I’m here to keep your head out of the clouds. Besides, we can donate some money to a charity, if you want to.” Chloe sighed. Rachel was right. The two continued down the sidewalk, ignoring the the homeless woman.

Maxine sighed. It had been the same story, the last few months that she had been homeless. She hadn’t expected anything from the two women, but, it was going to be hard to find a place to sleep. It hadn’t taken her long to realize, after the hostel had kicked her out, that life on the streets was pretty damned hard. Wiping a tear from her eye, she thought ‘I wish that bastard Prescott had killed me.’

**Author's Note:**

> After I wrote the first story, the image of Maxine on the street, while Chloe and Rachel passed her by, got in my head. So, this happened from that.


End file.
